Top retailers show mega confidence in Mega Bangna

Business executives are also optimistic of a rebound of the domestic economy after the flood and consequent slowdown last year, and have committed to further investment in new stores.
Christian Olofsson, president and shopping-centre manager for SF Development, the operator of Mega Bangna, said that the mega-mall is expected to welcome more than 110,000 visitors daily, or 40 million annually.
Praphan Eamrungroj, executive vice president for properties at Big C Supercenter, said the company would open a 9,100-square-metre Big C Extra store at Mega Bangna.
“The new Big C Extra at Mega Bangna will be our 109th hypermarket in Thailand and the 16th Big C Extra opened in the market,” he said.
He added that Big C Extra at Mega Bangna was expected to break even within six years.
“We have invested about Bt2.5 billion to open four hypermarkets this year, including the one at Mega Bangna. Other Big C stores will be opened in Loei, Mukdahan and Satun provinces. We will also open 75 proximity stores, namely Mini Big C, in the Kingdom this year. Each Mini Big C store requires an investment of between Bt4 million and Bt5 million,” Praphan said.
He said the company had opened 26 Mini Big C stores last year, bringing the total number of the mini-format stores to 62.
Robinson Department Store has invested Bt260 million to open its 27th store at the Mega Bangna complex.
President Preecha Ekkunagul said the overall economy would be positive this year, thanks to the government’s policy to stimulate domestic expenditure. It has allocated a huge investment budget for the construction of local infrastructure projects and brought in many populist policies, such as the Bt300 minimum wage, which help increase the income of people, especially the grass-root, and their spending power.
“We plan to open five department stores this year. The first store was opened on March 2 in Suphan Buri, and our store at Mega Bangna will be the second. We will also open three new stores later this year at Seacon Bangkae, Surat Thani and Lampang,” he said.
The country’s largest cinema operator, Major Cineplex Group, is also keen on expansion this year, according to Vicha Poolvaraluck, chairman of the group.
He said the company had invested about Bt400 million in the opening of its new branded entertainment complex, Mega Cineplex. Occupying 20,000sqm in total retail space, the complex will include 15 cinemas, an ice-skating rink, a bowling alley and a karaoke centre. The cinema complex aims to sell about 2 million tickets per annum.
“We plan to open multiplex theatres at eight new locations this year, which will require investment at about Bt800 million in total,” Vicha said.
Nath Jaritchana, executive vice president for marketing at Home Products Centre, said it would open the 47th HomePro store at Mega Bangna, occupying about 10,000sqm of retail space.
“We have developed the Mega Bangna store to be more universal in design, graphics and colour,” he said.
Nath said the new store was expected to draw about 50 million shoppers per month. ???Dream on??? The company planned to open seven or eight new stores this year. The first HomePro store was opened in Trang province in February, and the second will be have a soft opening at Mega Bangna on May 3.